Hot Brakes

[bhskittykatt]

So my brakes had been squeaky for a while, but Hubs was putting it off. Eventually they got grindy, and on the paper route yesterday morning they suddenly got super grindy even when I wasn't braking. So we took the car home and used Hubby's car to finish the route.

After I parked my car and started moving things over, Hubby grabbed the flashlight and took a look at my brakes. For some reason, he touched the disc. Right after we'd finished driving. Right after we descended a large hill and parked the car. Needless to say, he has a nice burn on his finger now.

At least he finally replaced my brake pads later that day.

[Shalom]

For some reason, he touched the disc. (...) Needless to say, he has a nice burn on his finger now.

Did that once myself. Right after driving 550 from Durango to Silverton. With the same result (I could see the outline of my fingerprint on the gleaming silver disc after I yanked my finger back; I think that was in fact a thin layer of my epidermis that I left there).

Not a smart thing for me to have done at that time and place.

(I wanted to see if it was as smooth as it looked... didn't occur to me that it would be as hot as it was, except in retrospect.)

[greek_jester]

Actually, you might want to keep an eye on that. If it was grinding, that means it's been wearing away at the disks, not just the pads. One hard stomp on the brakes at the wrong time could be nasty.

[bhskittykatt]

He did check my discs. A bit scratched but not worn down that bad. When it started really grinding we limped it home and parked it and swapped vehicles.

I have had my discs wear down before...after taking it to the mechanic to have brakes done. I took it back after it started grinding, and they said they were fine, but obviously they weren't. Which is why Hubster does all my brakes now.

I need to price my calipers, though, since one side wears down significantly faster than the other, and that's not a good thing.

Ugh...I don't know how much of that brake-spray stuff Hubby puts on my pads, but the first morning after he replaced them I thought I was going to suffocate from the fumes. I think he always puts on at least 2x more than he needs to.

[protege]

I need to price my calipers, though, since one side wears down significantly faster than the other, and that's not a good thing.

It sounds like there's a stuck piston in the caliper. If it doesn't retract fully when you take your foot off the pedal...you'll chew up a pad. There could be a bad seal, or the piston could have seized.

[bhskittykatt]

I'm not sure if it's one stuck down, or the other one not going down. When I had a pad slip, it was chewed pretty good within a week (and also dug into my disc...that was after I'd taken it to the mechanic to look at it twice, and that's why I don't trust him do my brakes anymore). The more worn-down one lasted a full year, whereas the other one looks maybe half used at most.

Hubby priced my calipers, though, and they're not terribly expensive. And they're something he can replace, so the only labor costs I have to worry about are bribing him with cake (the non-lie variety).

[Mishi]

(I wanted to see if it was as smooth as it looked... didn't occur to me that it would be as hot as it was, except in retrospect.)

I nearly did that when I was a kid for exactly the same reason! Though, I asked Dad before I touched it because I was worried about the oil on my fingers stuffing up the disc. (The car on the hoist was an Alpha Romeo Spider, and I really didn't want to break it)